The View from the Finish Line

“The steeper the mountain the harder the climb the better the view from the finish line.”

~ Paula Abdul,
Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, Choreographer & Actress

Letting Little Things Crush You

“If you live in an oppressive society, you’ve got to be resilient. You can’t let each little thing crush you. You have take every encounter and make yourself larger, rather than allow yourself to be diminished by it.”

~ James Earl Jones,
Emmy Award (3X), Tony Award (2X), Golden Globe (1970), Grammy Award (1970),
Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award (2008), Academy Honorary Award (2011),
Voice Arts Icon Award (2015) & Harvard University Honorary Doctor of Arts (2017)

Ordinary People with Extraordinary Determination

Image courtesy of smsglitz.com

“The definition of successful people is simply ordinary people with extraordinary determination. You cannot keep determined people from success.”

~ Mary Kay Ash,
Entrepreneur & Founder – Mary Kay Cosmetics

A Series of Meaningless Destinations

“Life is a journey, not a series of meaningless destinations”

~ John C. Maxwell,
Author, Speaker & Pastor

Sticking Like a Stamp

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to it until you get there”

~ Bob Proctor,
Speaker, Entrepreneur & Author

Breaking Glass Ceilings

“Glass ceilings can be broken wearing either a skirt or pants.”

~ Cheslie Kryst
Model, Lawyer, Writer, Fashion Blogger, Television Presenter, Fitness Enthusiast, Miss North Carolina USA (2019), Miss USA (2019) & 47th Daytime Emmy Awards and 48th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominee (2x)

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Attitude + Hustle

“Attitude of a champion. Hustle of an underdog.”

~ Author Unknown

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Know That It’s Going to Happen

“People who are going to be successful know it’s gonna happen. And those people tend to hustle until it does happen.”

~ Retta
a.k.a. Marietta Sangai Sirleaf
Stand-Up Comedian, Actress & Author

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The Life We Can Make for Our Children

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

~ Sitting Bull
Hunkpapa Lakota Leader

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A Dad’s Wish Fulfilled

“I have fulfilled my father’s wish to be a teacher as, through my music, I teach generations of people about my culture and the happiness that is found in just living life. As a performer, I want people to feel their hearts sing and their spirits soar.”

~ Celia Cruz,
a.k.a. Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso
Singer-Performer (1950-2003), 80+ Albums & Songs Recorded, Gold Records (23X), Latin Grammy Awards (4X), Grammy Awards (5X), Hollywood Walk of Fame Star (1987), Guinness World Record Book (1987 Carnaval Tenerife – Islas Canarias, Spain), Yale University Honorary Doctorate of Music (1989), Celia Cruz Way Street Dedication (1990 Miami, FL, Calle Ocho Walk of Fame Star (1991), Golden Eagle Lifetime Achievement Award in Music (1991 Hollywood, CA), Hispanic Women Achievers Award (1992),
Desi Awards Favorite Film Actress (1992 Hollywood, CA), Encuentro Lifetime Achievement Award (1992 Washington D.C.), La MUSA de Oro Life Time Achievement Award (1994 Caracas, Venezuela), Billboards Latin Music Hall of Fame Award (1994), University of Panama Life Time Achievement Award (1994), Walk of Fame Star Amador Bendayan (1995 Caracas, Venezuela), Costa Rica’s Walk of Fame Star (1997), Galeria Walk of Fane Star (1997 Mexico City, Mexico), Hispanic Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award (1998 Washington, DC)
University of Miami Honorary Doctorate in Music (1999), International Latin Music Hall of Fame (1999)
New York’s Central Park Summer Stage (2002), Calle Celia Cruz Street Dedication (2004 Tenerife, Spain), Celia Cruz Way Street Dedication (2004 Union City, New Jersey), Guinness World Record Book Longest Working Career as Salsa Artist (2005), Celia Cruz Square Dedication (2005 Hollywood, CA) & United States Postal Service Commemorative Postage Stamp (2011)

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Strength to Endure, Power to Obey

“Being strengthened to endure and being given the power to obey doesn’t make obedience easy, but it does make it possible.”

~ Jackie Hill Perry
Writer, Speaker, Author & Artist

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We Aren’t Whatever Tempts Us

“Just because we are tempted does not mean that we are our temptations.”

~ Jackie Hill Perry
Writer, Speaker, Author & Artist

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The Body’s ‘Final Say’

“The body doesn’t have to have the final say in our lives.”

~ Jackie Hill Perry
Writer, Speaker, Author & Artist

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Tenacity & Fight

“There’s something that comes out of surviving that gives us tenacity and fight.”

~ T. D. Jakes, Sr.,
Bishop/Chief Pastor of The Potter’s House,
Author & Filmmaker

When the Right Opportunity Presents Itself

“When opportunity presents itself grab it. Hold on tight and don’t let go.”

~ Celia Cruz,
a.k.a. Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso
Singer-Performer (1950-2003), 80+ Albums & Songs Recorded, Gold Records (23X), Latin Grammy Awards (4X), Grammy Awards (5X), Hollywood Walk of Fame Star (1987), Guinness World Record Book (1987 Carnaval Tenerife – Islas Canarias, Spain), Yale University Honorary Doctorate of Music (1989), Celia Cruz Way Street Dedication (1990 Miami, FL, Calle Ocho Walk of Fame Star (1991), Golden Eagle Lifetime Achievement Award in Music (1991 Hollywood, CA), Hispanic Women Achievers Award (1992),
Desi Awards Favorite Film Actress (1992 Hollywood, CA), Encuentro Lifetime Achievement Award (1992 Washington D.C.), La MUSA de Oro Life Time Achievement Award (1994 Caracas, Venezuela), Billboards Latin Music Hall of Fame Award (1994), University of Panama Life Time Achievement Award (1994), Walk of Fame Star Amador Bendayan (1995 Caracas, Venezuela), Costa Rica’s Walk of Fame Star (1997), Galeria Walk of Fane Star (1997 Mexico City, Mexico), Hispanic Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award (1998 Washington, DC)
University of Miami Honorary Doctorate in Music (1999), International Latin Music Hall of Fame (1999)
New York’s Central Park Summer Stage (2002), Calle Celia Cruz Street Dedication (2004 Tenerife, Spain), Celia Cruz Way Street Dedication (2004 Union City, New Jersey), Guinness World Record Book Longest Working Career as Salsa Artist (2005), Celia Cruz Square Dedication (2005 Hollywood, CA) & United States Postal Service Commemorative Postage Stamp (2011)

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Business: It’s About People

“In business it’s about people. It’s about relationships.”

“But I look at failure as education. In that respect, I am so well-educated.”

~ Kathy Ireland
Model, Actress, Entrepreneur, Businesswoman, Author, Philanthropist, Activist,
Public Speaker, Anti-Defamation League American Heritage Award (2011), Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Gala Messenger of Peace Award (2012),
California State University honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation Ambassador & 9-1-1 For Kids Ambassador

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The Way You’re Living in the Meantime

“Faith is about how you live your life in the meantime, how you make decisions when you don’t know for sure what’s next. What you do with yourself between the last time you heard from God and the next time you hear from God is the ongoing challenge of a life of faith.”

~ Priscilla Marie ‘Cece’ Winans Love,
Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Talk Show Host, Speaker,
Author, Dove Awards (23X) Stellar Awards (15X) & Grammy Awards (12X)

So, It’s Never Been Done

“I’m a curious person. I like to ask questions. Well, why? People would say, it’s never been done. It’s never been done does not mean that it can’t be done.”

“But I look at failure as education. In that respect, I am so well-educated.”

~ Kathy Ireland
Model, Actress, Entrepreneur, Businesswoman, Author, Philanthropist, Activist,
Public Speaker, Anti-Defamation League American Heritage Award (2011), Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Gala Messenger of Peace Award (2012),
California State University honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation Ambassador & 9-1-1 For Kids Ambassador

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One Step in Pursuit of Your Dream

“The fact that you are still here is proof that whatever tried to beat you lost.”

~ Rigel J. Dawson
Author & Minister

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How Long Will Justice Be Crucified & Truth Buried?

“How long will justice be crucified and truth buried?”

“How long? Not long! I came to say to you, this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long because “truth crushed to earth will rise again”. How long? Not long, because “no lie can live forever”. How long? Not long, because “you shall reap what you sow”. How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.,
‘Our God is Marching On!’ Speech (a.k.a ‘How Long? Not Long!’) – March 25 1965 in Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor, Activist & Humanitarian

Seeing Sin as a Good Thing

“Unbelief doesn’t see God as the ultimate good. So it can’t see sin as the ultimate evil. It instead sees sin as a good thing and thus God’s commands as a stumbling block to joy. In believing the Devil, I didn’t need a pentagram pendant to wear, neither did I need to memorize a hex or two. All I had to do was trust myself more than God’s Word. I had to believe that my thoughts, my affections, my rights, my wishes, were worthy of absolute obedience and that in laying prostrate before the flimsy throne I’d made for myself, that I’d be doing a good thing.”

~ Jackie Hill Perry
Writer, Speaker, Author & Artist

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Reverse the Irreversible in Your Life

 

“Comebacks don’t seem likely when your back is up against the wall and your hope is depleted. But if you will stay the course, you will discover God’s power to reverse the irreversible in your life.”

~ Tony Evans,
Founder & Senior Pastor – Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship,
Founder & President – The Urban Alternative,
Former Chaplain – Dallas Cowboys, Chaplain – Dallas Mavericks,
Radio Broadcaster – The Alternative & Television Broadcaster

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Reaching Your Goal

“You didn’t come this far, to only come this far.”

~ Derek Grier,
Clergyman, Founding Pastor – Grace Church & Founder – Grace Youth Center

Her Very Existence on Earth

“A woman who doesn’t apologize for her very existence on Earth is rare, and that’s what I wanted for myself.”

~ Gabourey Sidibe
Actress, Director, Author,
Women Film Critics Circle Awards (2009), Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards (2009),
National Board of Review (2009), Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (2009), Florida Film Critics Circle Awards (2009),
Hollywood Film Festival (2009), Detroit Film Critics Society Awards (2009), Chicago International Film Festival (2009),
Satellite Awards (2010), NAACP Image Awards (2010), Iowa Film Critics Awards (2010), Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (2010),
Independent Spirit Awards (2010), Black Reel Awards (2010) & Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (2012)

Who Determines Your Self-Worth?

“Your self-worth is determined by you.
You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are.”

~ Beyonce Knowles,
Singer, Songwriter, Actress & Philanthropist